Antitrust Acts

Executive Summary

While technology giants such as Amazon, Google and Facebook deliver low prices and innovative products to consumers, their growing dominance is raising concerns that they may stifle competition in the markets where they operate. Congressional Democrats, some legal experts and even President Trump have questioned whether they represent new forms of monopolistic behavior and whether century-old U.S. antitrust laws are sufficient to keep them in check. Other experts argue the laws have withstood the test of time, can be successfully applied across all industries and sufficiently protect consumers. They also say market forces will prevent monopolies and anticompetitive behavior, because only firms that offer competitive prices, excellent products and other efficiencies succeed.

Key takeaways include:

Technology companies such as Amazon pose a conundrum in the antitrust arena. While they edge out competitors across a host of industries, they provide benefits to consumers through lower prices, convenience and an abundance of high-quality products.

Teece, David J., “Competing Through Innovation: Technology Strategy and Antitrust Policies,” Edward Elgar Publishing, 2013. A business professor at the University of California, Berkeley, suggests businesses and policymakers can adapt to technological advances and other shifts in the global business landscape by fostering “next-generation” competition policies.

Articles

Buchholz, Todd G., and Victoria J. Buchholz, “In the age of Uber and Snapchat, antitrust law needs an update,” Los Angeles Times, Feb. 9, 2017, http://tinyurl.com/ydcmkydu. A former White House director of economic policy (Todd Buchholz) and an intellectual property attorney (Victoria Buchholz) argue U.S. antitrust enforcement should be updated and the functions of the Federal Trade Commission and the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division harmonized.

Pethokoukis, James, “On ‘hipster antitrust’: The rush to heavily regulate or even dismantle Big Tech is really premature,” American Enterprise Institute, Sept. 28, 2017, http://tinyurl.com/y6wwxvaw. A blogger cautions against calls to break up technology firms, arguing that their impact on competition has yet to be determined.

Weigel, David, “Breaking from tech giants, Democrats consider becoming an antimonopoly party,” The Washington Post, Sept. 4, 2017, http://tinyurl.com/y9rusqf8. A journalist details how congressional Democrats are taking an antimonopoly stance, going against the grain of traditional Democratic support for the technology industry.

Reports and Studies

“Halfway through 2017: With no dramatic shifts, deals on track for a steady year,” PricewaterhouseCoopers, June 2017, http://tinyurl.com/y8jqp28f. Mergers and acquisitions through the first half of 2017 have kept pace with the preceding year, while the volume of deals has increased 12 percent.

Manjoo, Farhad, “Can Washington Stop Big Tech Companies? Don’t Bet on It,” The New York Times, Oct. 25, 2017, https://tinyurl.com/y92a53zx. The “Frightful Five” – Apple, Google, Microsoft, Facebook and Amazon – will most likely maintain their dominance unhindered by legislation, says a New York Times columnist.

McLaughlin, David, “Tech’s New Monopolies,” Bloomberg, Sept. 27, 2017, https://tinyurl.com/y726ukxe. The European Union, unlike the United States, is taking an aggressive approach against the tech giants, a business writer says.

Trump Administration

Alexis, Alexei, “Rep. Goodlatte ‘Open’ to Antitrust Fix for Policing Internet,” Bloomberg BNA, Nov. 1, 2017, https://tinyurl.com/ybca5lxc. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Robert Goodlatte, R-Va., said he would be open to giving the Federal Trade Commission increased authority to police the internet service provider industry using antitrust laws.

Crampton, Liz, “Global Enforcement, Tech Tactics Are New for Antitrust Chief,” Bloomberg BNA, Sept. 28, 2017, https://tinyurl.com/yb22kfxt. Makan Delrahim, the incoming head of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division, plans to examine international regulators’ efforts to keep competition open and fair.

Kang, Cecilia, “Trump Picks Joseph Simons, Corporate Antitrust Lawyer, to Lead F.T.C.,” The New York Times, Oct. 19, 2017, https://tinyurl.com/y73my3gr. Joseph J. Simons, a well-known antitrust lawyer, is President Trump’s choice to lead the Federal Trade Commission, and experts say he will most likely adhere to a free-market, conservative approach to antitrust issues.